One of the things I miss about China is the ubiquitousness of public dancing. It seemed that no matter where I went I would always come across people dancing. In the northeast, where I lived for 8 years, ladies would gather in parks and on street corners in the early evening to dance Yang’ge, a popular folk dance done with fans (hence, sometimes called the fan dance). They usually had a hired band that played traditional instruments.
On visits to urban parks in the early morning hours, I would often see a group over here, boombox strategically placed, ballroom dancing; and a group over there practicing their disco moves before heading off to work.
It’s nice to see that the tradition of public dancing is still very much alive, even if it looks a bit different, and now can be live-streamed so that millions can watch. What I rarely saw, back in the day, was one person dancing for a camera.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if we in the US spent more time out dancing with our friends and neighbors we would probably be a less violent society.
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